The AT has 4,341 miles on it now. All but 700 miles has been two up, plus over 2,500 miles of those has been loaded with luggage as well. Here is my thoughts on the moto and the accessorized I added to it:

The motor is strong enough, but nothing hair raising. Which was what was expected.

The DCT transmission is great, the more I use it, the more I like it! I do not find it to be like a car, I am always engaged as to what gear it is in, what shifting pattern I engage and the use of the buttons to change when I may want something different that the programmed pattern. Keep in mind, much of my riding has been in the mountains with many two lane curvy and hilly roads. I think we will see this option on many motos in the future!

The suspension is good! It could probably use a bit stiffer spring on the rear for two up, fully loaded rides, which is what will accumulate most of the miles on this moto. It does not leave the house without my wife on the back, unless I am headed to the US. She will have her papers in a couple of months, so she will be with me then as well.

I have no issue with the OEM tires! Many have complained about them, but I have had no issues and will replace with them the same tires or something very similar.

I also have had no issue with the traction control. I keep it on the highest setting and unless I apply a lot of gas before getting to the top of a speed bump which causes the rear to bounce, I never see the TC light flash.

Overall, I really like the African Twin! If someone offered me a brand new KTM 990 Adventure today as a even swap, I would not swap. And you need to understand, I really liked my two 990 Adventures!

Bumot Luggage is great, except for one issue. The bags should have been placed a couple inches further back. My wife's feet are so close to the bags that it is difficult for her to pivot her foot when getting on and off the moto. It is also very cramped when I have my feet on the ground and dog paddling so to speak at traffic lights or in stop and go traffic. We are getting use to it and it is not something that would cause me not to recommend the bags, but it is something that takes some getting use to. BTW, I have the largest size, 45/41 liter bags. We have the bag insert and they are great as well! Not having to lug saddlebags to and from the room every day, is very nice! One of the saddlebags and the trunk also has the bags that attach to the lids for papers and thing like that. I definitely recommend these products!

Outex Tubeless system is very good! I have had to reapply the tape on one spoke, but all is good. I don't really know that it is any better than the Plumber's Goop I used for many ten of thousands of miles on the 990 Adventures, but I am satisfied with it.

Orange Tire Pressure Monitoring System is great, I strongly recommend this product! I see it, in conjunction with the tubeless system as a real safety improvement on the moto. I had a rapid front tire deflation on the 990 Adventure a while back. I realized a problem at 80 MPH and the tire broke down on the rim at about 60 MPH. It was one of, if not the scariest moments I have ever had on a moto! These two systems working together will substantially minimize a repeat of something like this happening.

Sub $10 Chinese 12 Volt Plug installed in the OEM position is working great! It is wired directly to the battery.

Cortech Super 2.0 12L Tank Bag is very good! Not very big, but it does not get in my way when standing. I would recommend this product. It cost less than $100!

Kaoko Throttle Lock Cruise works good, I don't use it that much, but it is nice to have when you want to use it. My AT has quite a bit of vibration on the right hand grip. It could be due to the throttle lock, because I do not have the vibration on the left side.

Oxford Heated Grips are the best heated grip I have ever had! Mine has the five settings for heat levels.

Holan Pro Upper Crash bars are working well for me and I especially like the fact that I have my auxiliary Spot light mounted on the threaded holes on the bars. Some are claiming that they don't offer sufficient protecting in falls. I guess time will tell!

ADV Monster – 10 Degree Spots are the same I used on the 990 Adventure and I like them, plus they cost less than $100 for two. I used them for 80,000 miles on the last 990 ADV, one light failed at 70,000 miles and was replaced. Keep in mind, most of my motos miles are in Mexico and further south with countless speed bumps, pot holes and generally poor road conditions.

Rugged Roads Sidestand Fat Foot works well! Highly recommended!

Honda – High Windscreen, Center Stand, and Passenger Footpegs. All work as you would expect being from Honda.

Micro Starter SPORT lithium battery booster. I have never had one of these, but it seems like a good idea for the rides I do.

Knowing what I know now, I don't think any of the purchases I made would be changed if I had it to do over!

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Maby you can help me pick out a adv monster lite set up.We have alot of deer on the roads and in the ditches up here.I have hit 3 on motorcycles and am trying to pick a better lite set up.would the off road floods work better or are they to short on range.Would I be better off running one of each type?.I never purchased aftermarket lites and do not want to waste money.I try not to ride at dusk but sometimes it happens.I have a iron butt this summer in the u.p and would like better lighting for the nite portion.

Maby you can help me pick out a adv monster lite set up.We have alot of deer on the roads and in the ditches up here.I have hit 3 on motorcycles and am trying to pick a better lite set up.would the off road floods work better or are they to short on range.Would I be better off running one of each type?.I never purchased aftermarket lites and do not want to waste money.I try not to ride at dusk but sometimes it happens.I have a iron butt this summer in the u.p and would like better lighting for the nite portion.

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Mine work very well and cost $100 with the HD mounting bracket. http://stores.advmonster.com/model-30-led-off-road-spot-light/ I am powering them with the OEM plug that works off my high beam. They are mounted to my crash bars that are already drilled and tapped for lights. Because of this, my installation cost was $0. ADV Monster also have flood lights and other products. I would recommend that you send them an email and ask for their recommendations.

We returned today from a nine day 750 mile ride traveling around the various Pueblos Magicos in Mexico. Two up with saddlebags, trunk and heavily loaded. Most of this riding is on less than good roads with countless pot holes and speed bumps. I did increase the pre-load on the rear shock to 25 clicks and it seems to have improved the ride. I have one turn of pre-load over the OEM setting on the front forks and will probably try another full turn. We have millions of speed bumps in Mexico and some are quite high. I have actually drug the belly pan a few times.

The moto continues to operate very well and I am very satisfied. The cumulative MPG of the trip was a bit over 51 miles per gallon. Good for close to 250 miles on a tank of fuel! Max speed was 70 MPH which was used for maybe 150 miles, the rest went from 45 to 65 depending on road conditions. A little bit of testing at slower speeds suggest you could increase that to probably 65 MPG and 325 miles on a tank if you kept the speeds at 50 to 55 MPH with soft throttle input. I can't say that I actually want to do this, but if you were in a situation that you really needed to get the most out of a tank of gas, it is nice to know its limits.

This last trip had us at high altitude, but relativity flat surfaces, very different than around home where the terrain is both curvy and mountainous. At home coming out of sharp curves is often met with steep inclines.

While this is a bit of a shock to me, as down shifting with my thumb has become more natural, using the "D" mode on the DCT has become more useful! If you stay on the gas a bit as you accelerate, the DCT will not up shift in a quick pattern. Of course, if you are very light on the gas, it will be in sixth by the time you are going 40 MPH. The more I use the DCT, the more I like it, plus the more I use it, the better I learn how to tailor it to my different riding styles under different circumstances. The folks that think the DCT is a no-brainer type riding experience, could not be further from the truth!

I agree. My experiences so far lead me to conclude there are two ways to ride a bike with DCT.

1 - just let the bike do it (the default only way the bike will work belief by many who don't like DCT have). If you ride the bike this way you will be inevitably be disappointed. It is akin to riding a twist and go scooter, albeit with gear changes.

2 - Actively manage the gears while riding in DCT mode. Choose the right ride setting for the terrain and let the bike do most of the work. BUT, learn to use the finger paddle shifts to shift seamlessly up and down when you need to. This way the bike performs how you want it to perform. You'll like the bike when riding in this manner.

Consequently I am always experimenting with the different mode settings for different terrain and different load weights on the bike.

I had earlier increased the pre-load on the front susencion one full turn from OEM settings. I decided to increase it one additional full turn for a trial, but first I totally reduced pre-load to make sure they were even. Apparently the were not set the same from the factory, because the left was at 10.5 turns and the right was at 9.5 turns. I think on the DCT, they both should ave been 8.5 full turns from the factory, but of course, I had increased pre-load one full turn, so the left was one full turn more than OEM before I adjusted it. They are both now set at 11 full turns. Total adjustment possible is 15 turns according to the owner's Manual.

I had earlier increased the pre-load on the front susencion one full turn from OEM settings. I decided to increase it one additional full turn for a trial, but first I totally reduced pre-load to make sure they were even. Apparently the were not set the same from the factory, because the left was at 10.5 turns and the right was at 9.5 turns. I think on the DCT, they both should ave been 8.5 full turns from the factory, but of course, I had increased pre-load one full turn, so the left was one full turn more than OEM before I adjusted it. They are both now set at 11 full turns. Total adjustment possible is 15 turns according to the owner's Manual.

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You will not notice a huge difference. The front spring is super progressive which makes it super unsensitive.

I leave tomorrow for my quarterly trip to visit my daughter and granddaughter in the Dallas, TX area. The settings on the moto are the same as I have been using for Modesta and myself, plus the additional full turn on the front pre-load I have already posted about and I reduced the pre-load on rear shock to 15 clicks. I will be lightly loaded going to Texas, but heavily loaded and one up when I return. The moto has over 5,000 miles on it now. The only miles I have ridden it solo was from Mississippi to Texas when I picked it up. Those 600 miles included no saddlebags, trunk or crashbars, plus I had made no adjustments to the suspension. So, this will be the first "adjusted" solo ride. I will ride at least 2,500 miles on the moto, 3,500 if I visit my cousin in North Texas. I generally average a much higher average MPH on these type rides. I will let y'all know how it goes.

I rode from Iguala, Guerrero to Texas starting last Monday and arriving to the Dallas area early Wednesday. Everything went great with the moto performing perfect! I have ridden at an indicated 80 MPH, which is actually 78, as much as conditions allowed. There was a strong head or quartering wind for the last 500 miles. The moto is still getting better than 43 MPG under those conditions. Total mileage so far is 1,298.

I arrived home today from my 16 day trip. The moto odometer registered 3,365 miles, of course, it has a 2% error. I also put 1,600 miles on the car I keep in Texas. My GPS, which was on all except for about 50 miles registered 4,803 miles.

I have checked my miles per gallon, correcting for odometer error a number of times and I have verified that I usually get 2 MPG better that the moto computer says. Having said that, the first 800 miles, which was from 4,000 to 8,200 feet elevation, but mostly above 6,000 delivered 45 MPG riding at an indicated 80 MPH, which is 78 MPH on the GPS. As the elevation went lower, so did the MPG, speeds stayed the same. I did change from pure regular gas to Corn "enriched" gasoline one I crossed the border into Texas. On the return trip and until I reached 4,000 feet of elevation, the total average MPG steadily dropped. It was down to 36.7 by the time I reached 4,000 feet in Mexico. The total mileage at that time was about 2,700 miles. Then the Average MPG begin to slowly increase until I reached 6,000 feet, at which time it began increasing more quickly. By the time I got home, my average MPG for the entire trip of 3,365 miles was 39.8 MPG.

I am sure some of the dropping of MPG was due to the Corn "enrichment", but much of it was due to elevation changes. I did not document it separately, but watching the instant MPG read out, it seemed to be getting about 6 MPG better at altitude. I was not expecting it to be that much! At any rate, I am not complaining, 39.8 MPG running 80 MPH as much as possible, plus heavily loaded for the 1,250 mile ride back home is very very good in my opinion. BTW, there was one 55 Liter bag on the back seat with a 50 liter bag on top of it, plus a 10 liter bag on top of the trunk.

I have decided that I will upgrade the spring on the rear shock in the future. I am not for sure, but I think it is sagging a bit more as the miles have accumulated. Plus loaded with Modesta and me, I have the pre-load turned to 68% of its max. I always thought, it was best not to exceed 50% of this limit. Anyway, it is only a $140! I will order a Hyperpro progressive spring from EPM Performance Imports before I return to the US. I had one of those on my 1996 R1100GS and it worked quite well!